Fluid heating and cooling apparatus.



L. D. LOVEKIN.

FLUID HEATING AND COOLING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY I5. 1912.

Patented May 18, 1915.

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FLUID HEATING AND COOLING APPARATUS.

APPLICATLON FILED 1ULY15. 1912.

191399541119. Patent-@A AMay 18, 1915.

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ALL E I. L Y D WITNESSES A TTORNE Y LUTHER LOVE'KIN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANKA.

' f' FLUID HEATING AND VCQGLING APPARATUS.

Lisette.

T0 all lwhom 'it may concern.' v

Be it known that I, LUTHER D. Loi/Enum, a citizen of the UnitedStates of America,

residing in Philadelphia, lin the county of.`

Philadelphia afnd State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful lmprovement in Fluid Heating and Cooling Apparatus, of which the following is a true and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof.

1My present ,invention consists in an im? proved device Afor e'ecting a transfer of heat between two` fluids. at diiferent temperatures, useful alike where the ultimate object is either to heat the cooler or to cool the hotter of the two fluids.

The primary object of the invention is to provide an ed'ective device for the general purpose specified, which shall be. highly compact, relatively inexpensive to manufacture,land easy to assemble and 4to disassemble when necessary for cleaning, re'

pairs or other purpose.

More specifically, the object of my invention is to provide an improved device of the character disclosed and embodying inventive features claimed in my* prior application, No. 547,597, filed March 5, 1910. My improved device is like that disclosed and claimed in my rior application in that it comprises a cham er receiving one of the two thermally interacting fluids and into which project bowed' tubes nested together in one or more groups, and havin their ends connected to provide a path or the second of the two lthermally interacting fluids, comprising successive looped sections formed by the various bowed tubes. 1

My present invention comprises simple and eective provisions for obtaining a counter current How through said chamber of the fluid directly admitted thereto,A along a path parallel to the path for the fluidpassing through the bowed tubes.

rllhe invention also comprises certain improvements vin construction and` arrangement hereinafter specified.

The various features of Anovelty which characterize-my invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed yto and Jforming a part of this specification.

For a better understanding of the invention, however, and of the advantages possessed by it, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive Specication'of )Letters Patent.

'scribed forms of apparatus embodying my invention. y

Of the drawings, Figure l is 4a side elevation, partlyq in section, of one form of the apparatus constructed in accordance with my-present invention, Fig. 2 is a sec-..

the line 6 6 of Figl 4, and Fig. 7 is a per` spective viewof a tube spacing element employed in the construction shown in Fig. 4..

In drawings, and referring first to the construction shown4 in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, A represents the casing body inclosing,`except at one edge, a chamber A0 into which one of two thermally interacting uids is directly admitted. As shown, the casing body A is formed of similar upper and lower halves a and a formed with ianges A adapted to.be detachably secured together as by means of the bolts C. rlhe casing parts a; and a are formed with opposedy tube spacing lugs A2, and opposed baille ribs A3 A4 and A5. -As shown, each pair of ribs A, A4 and A5 meet edge to edge at the center of the chamber A0. vrlhe opposed baiile plates A5 are formed with hollow bosses A'receiving stay bolts D for securing the central portion of the casing parts a and a together. The casing element a is'also formed with inlet and outlet openings A7 and As, respectively, lfor the fluid admitted to the chamber A". As shown, the inlet and outlet openings are both formed in the lower casing element a. The arrangement of the tube spacing lugs vA2, the baiie ribs A3, A4 and A5, and the r described.;

, Patented May 13, 119115. Y Applicationy led July 15, 1912. Serial No. 709,356.

matter in which l have illustrated and'deln the iormshown in Figs. 1,. 2 and 3,

six bowed tubes,` all lying in the same plane and nested together, `and of progressively varying lengths, are employed to carry the second of the two thermally interacting fluids through the chamber A". For convenience, i designate the cuter two tubes F',

the middle pair of tubes F2, and the inner pair of tubes F43. ends of these tubes are'expanded into or otherwise secured in any usual or sintable manner 1n apertures F5 formed in a chambered member F which closes the otherwise open edge of the chamber A". As shown, the member F is formed with a flange F6 adapted to be bolted to the anges A9 formed on the casing parts a and a at the margin of the open edge of the chamber A0. The chambered member F is formed with chambers F', F2, F3 and F 4' so arrangedwthat the ends, of the tubes E and E2 which are nearer the top of Fig. 2

open into the chamber F; the corresponding ends of the tubes E3 open into the chamber F2; the ends of the tubes E2 and E5 which are nearer the bottom of Fig. 2 open into the chamber F5, and the corresponding ends of the ltubes E open into the chamber F4. The inlet port F7 for the fluid circulating through the bowed tubes is formed in one wall of the Cchamber F4, and the outlet port' v F8 for this fluid is formed in one wall `of the chamber F2. With the arrangement described, it will be apparent that the fluid-l entering the chamber F4 through the inlet port F7 will passthrough the tubes da, to y are arranged to form a serpentine ,path

through the chamber Ao for the fluid di-A rectly admitted to the latter through the ini let port A7 which is parallel to the path for the fluid owing through the tubes, the 'direction of the flow of the two iuids in adjacent portions of their pathsfbeing opposite, however.

This result is accomplished by disposing of the baffle ribs As. that they form a U shaped baille lying between the tubes E and/E2 and extending' at its end .nearer the bottom of Fig. 2 to the casits other end by a space forming a port A10.v This port connects the U shaped channel portion Ry of the chamber A0 lying on the outer side of the baille ribs A3 withrthe U shaped channel R2 `formed between these baille ribs and the generally similar baile formed by the ribs A4. 'The' latter extend at v their ends nearer the top of Fig. 2 to the casing element F but are separated from the latter at their other ends by a space forming a port A11, connecting the channel R2 to the U shaped channel R5 into which the portion of the chamber A", lying within the baille Jformed by the ribs A4, is divided bythe uncurved central baille formed by the rib A5. The last mentioned bale lies betweenv the legs of the inner bowed tube E5 and extends the ends of the tubes. 111g element F, but separated therefrom at 4 `not ai'ect the apparatus m from the casing element F nearly, but not quite, to the yoke portion of the inner tube E3 The'inlet port A7 opens to the end of the U shaped channel R5 nearer the'top of Fig. 2 and the outlet port A8 fromthe cham# ,for cleaning and repairs, and 'the inherent relatively low' cost of manufacture of the construction will be obvious to those skilled in the art. The tube and baille arrangement by which the countercurrent flow of the thermally interacting fluids is, obtained, tends to high eficiency and the paths of travel for the two fluids may be made long enough to effect the desired transfer of heat from one fluid tothe `other in apparatus of minimum bulk. The tubes are uniformly spaced and relatively close 'together to permit rapid and eective circulation of the two fluids. The shape of the tubes insures freedom from troubles due to expansion and contraction.

The apparatus is obviously suitable for evaporating one fluid by heat derived from the other, or for pre-heating boiler feed wa- Y ter,or for cooling oil, and in general for any purpose where itlis desired to raise or lower the temperature of one fluid by transferring heat from or to another fluid. When the fluids treated are both liquids or both gases,

it is practically immaterial whether the legs of the bowed tubes lie ina horizontal, vertical orl inclined plane. When one of the fluids is a vapor, it is of course desirableV 'to arrange the apparatus so that condensed vapor will drain out of the apparatus, and

in particular Where steam is vpassed to the inlet port F7, and is condensed in whole or inpart within the bowed tubes and the chambers communicating therewith, I consider it desirable to arrange the tubesin a plane inclined slightly to the horizontal to give the desired drainage downwardV to In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the apparatus is so arranged that the path for the liquid flowing through the bowed'tubes comprises three successive loops, each of which is formed by the tubes E, E2 or E3. It will be apparent that the two tubes which together form each loop are duplicates, and that the removal of one of the two tubes forming each loop, lor the addition of tubes so connected into thel chambers of the member F as to form additional subdivisions of the loops, would principle, but merely the cross sectionalarea of the lfluid path formed by the tubes. AIt' will be ap/ parent, moreover, that the number of the loops in the uld path formed bythe tubes need not necessarily be three, but..ma y be ideama two or -any greater number which conditions may make desirable.

. and in the number of the bowed tubes employed in each of said loops, is illustrated by Figs. 4, and 6, wherein the chambered member FA is formed with an inlet compartment F11, a loop connecting compartment F12, and an intermediate outlet compartment F13. In this construction, there p are four parallel layers or groups of nested U tubes E11 and E12, each of the tubes havins its end nearer the bottom of Fig. 4, open to the chamber F12, While the other ends of the tubes E11 are connected to the inlet chamber F11, and the other ends of the tubes E12 are connected to the outlet chamber F13. In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 4, the central `rbaille G and the curved baille G2, emplo ed to divide the chamber A"0 into a twoooped path for the fluid directly admitted to that chamber, are made separable from the casing parts a1 and a, which are formed with grooves A15 and A16 receiving the edges of the baffles, and holding them against displacement. The casing parts a1 and a are provided with spacing lugs A20 for the two outer layers of tubes and the superimposed tubes are spaced apart by spacers which, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, each comprise a pair of notched plates H connected together by a rod H. These plates are placed on edge between adjacent superimposed tubes and each plate H and the rod H serves to pre- `vent the accidental displacement of the other plate. The casing parts may be connected by hinged bolts C as shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6.

While in accordance with the provisions of the statutes l have illustrated and described the best forms ofmy inventionnow known to me, it will be apparent to. those skilled in the art that changes may be made in the form of the apparatus disclosed without departing from the spirit'of my invention, and that under some conditions certain features of my invention may be used with advantage without la corresponding use of other features. v

Having now described my invention, what ll claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent isi 1. ln a device of the character described having a chamber into which one of two thermally interacting fluids is directly ad-` mitted, the combination of one or more tube groups extending into said chamber, each comprising a plurality of bowed tubes nested together, and connected at their ends to provide a path comprising two or more successive ,loop sections for the second of said two uids, and bae means dividing said chamber into a path for the duid directly admitted thereto, comprising successive loop,y sections parallel to, and alongside of the first mentioned loop sections whereby a counter current' dow of the two uids may be obtained.

2. In a device of the kind described, the

` combination with a chamber of one or more ladmitted to the chamber comprising loop sections parallel to and inclosing the corresponding loop sections of thepath formed by the tubes, whereby there may be obtained a counter current flow of the two fluids passing through the said chamber one within and the other without said tubes.

3'. ln a device of the character described, the combination of a casing comprising a pair of casing parts detachably connected together and inclosing, except at one edge, a chamber into which one of two thermally interacting fluids is directly admitted, a chamberedmember detachably connected to said casing parts and closing the open edge of said chamber, one or more tube groups extending into said chamber and each comprising a plurality of bowed tubes nested together and having their ends secured to said chambered member and connected by the chambers therein so that said tubes form av path comprising successive loop sections for the second of saidv fluids, and baiHe means dividing said chamber into a path for the Huid directly admitted thereto, comprising successive loop sections parallel to and inclosing the loop sections formed by the tubes whereby a counter current ow of the two iuids may be obtained.

v LUTHER D. LOVEMN.

Witnesses: ARNornKA'rz, D. STEWART. 

